


It's All My Fault

by Hugh_Jidiot



Category: Amphibia (Cartoon)
Genre: Friendship, Gen, Horror Elements, Hurt/Comfort, The violence and character death are only within the nightmare, guilt complexes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-18
Updated: 2020-08-18
Packaged: 2021-03-06 07:14:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,972
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25965691
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hugh_Jidiot/pseuds/Hugh_Jidiot
Summary: After being reunited with her best friend, a terrible nightmare brings Marcy's buried feelings of guilt bubbling to the surface.Thankfully for her, Anne is there to listen and offer support.
Relationships: Anne Boonchuy & Marcy Wu
Comments: 19
Kudos: 147





	It's All My Fault

Newtopia was burning.

They had come in an instant; a massive hoard of barbari-ants, bigger than anything the city had seen before. They had scaled the walls in seconds, overwhelming the archers before pouring into the city in a wave of skittering legs and snapping mandibles. In the chaos, dozens of fires had broken out, and with no one to extinguish them, the whole city had quickly become a blazing inferno.

Marcy Wu, Chief Ranger of the Newtopian Knight Guard and one of the three humans in all of Amphibia, ran through the burning streets of Newtopia’s Ninth District, her wrist-mounted crossbow locked and loaded. Her cloak fluttered behind her as she ran, her boots slapping against the cobblestone below. Behind her narrowed eyes and grim scowl, Marcy’s thoughts were a blur as she ran through her Mission Objectives.

_Objective One: Secure the King and his Court - complete._

King Andrias and the rest of the Newtopian Royal Court were already on their way out of the city, escorted by a contingent of the finest knights in the realm along a path opposite of the invading swarm. They would be fine, Marcy was sure.

_Objective Two: Coordinate the evacuation efforts - complete._

In a meeting with the rest of the Knight Captains, it was quickly decided that a counterattack now would be pointless; the barbari-ants were too numerous, and the city’s forces too scattered. Instead, Marcy had ordered an immediate and total evacuation, with half of the squads working to keep the routes out of the city secure while the remaining forces rallied the civilians. They would retake the city, but there would be no point if no one was left alive.

_Objective Three: Meet up with Anne and the Plantars in the Ninth District…_

Marcy quickened her pace at the thought of her best friend. Anne and the Plantar family had been staying at one of Newtopia’s finest inns since their arrival, in the heart of District Nine. One of Newtopia’s most splendid and opulent neighborhoods.

And among the hardest hit by the ant invasion. If anything had happened to her -

_“Aaaaahhh!”_

A scream of terror brought that train of thought to a halt. Marcy came skidding to a stop and turned towards the disturbance, just in time to see a newt mother and her children scramble out of a building. A hulking barbari-ant burst through the wall in a shower of brick just seconds later. The beast reared back, its dripping mandibles snapping as it loomed over the terrified woman, who stood between it and her screaming children.

Marcy didn’t hesitate. She raised her arm and fired her crossbow, the steel-tipped bolt sailing through the air and sticking in the sweet spot between the ant’s armor-like chitin. The creature let out a pained squeal as it toppled to the side, unmoving.

_Critical hit._

The newt family turned, their teary eyes wide with awe and gratitude. “Lady Marcy!” the woman exclaimed. “Thank the heavens, it’s you!”

“Go!” Marcy said, already loading up another bolt. “Take Azure Avenue up to Silver Street! The Knight Guards have the northwest gate secured. Hurry!”

The woman nodded, scooping up her children and running for safety while Marcy took off in the opposite direction. The flames of the building burning around her reached for the sky with flickering fingers of flame. Acrid smoke filled her nostrils, and sweat dripped from her body as the intense heat bared down on her.

_Side quest complete. Return to main objective: Meet with Anne and the Plantars in the Ninth District…_

Marcy rounded the corner onto Andrias Way, Newtopia’s main thoroughfare that snaked through all of the districts. Her heart swelled as she was greeted by the best possible sight: the Knights of District Nine, leading a group of civilians: battered and frightened, but alive. Even better, Marcy could make out the distinct shape of the Plantar fwagon near the head of the group, with more survivors clinging to the sides.

_Objective complete!_

“Captain Dionaea!” Marcy said as she approached, addressing the green-skinned newt in scuffed silver armor leading the pack. “What’s the status of your mission?”

Dionaea snapped to attention at Marcy’s presence. “Chief! We’ve rescued as many civilians as we could, as you instructed.” She paused, eyes flicking back and forth. “But the human girl…”

Marcy’s blood froze in her veins.

 _“What?!”_ She practically screamed, grabbing Dionaea by the shoulders. “What happened to Anne?! Where is she?!”

_“Marcy!”_

Marcy looked up to see Hopediah Plantar - _Hop Pop, that’s what Anne calls him_ \- hectically waving to her from the driver’s seat of the fwagon, his grandchildren Sprig and Polly beside him. All three looked more terrified than Marcy had ever seen them.

“Hop Pop!” Marcy said, shoving Dionaea aside. “Where’s Anne?”

“The plaza about a mile back,” Hop Pop said, “the one with that big fountain in the middle!”

“There were ants!” Sprig shouted, pointing back down the way they had come.

“Lots of ants!” Polly added, bouncing frantically.

“They came out of nowhere!”

“We were surrounded!”

“It was an ambush,” Dionaea interrupted. “A wave of barbari-ants surrounded us in Thistle Plaza. We punched a hole through the enemy line to escape, and the human girl stayed behind along with several of my knights to cover our escape.” Dionaea gulped. “She insisted, Chief.”

_Oh God! Anne!_

“Get everyone out of the city,” Marcy ordered Dionaea, falling back on her training to keep herself from being overwhelmed by panic. “We have the northwest gate secured. I’m going back for the survivors and I’ll meet up with you at the evacuation site. Go!”

“Ma’am yes ma’am!” The newt captain replied with a firm nod. She motioned with her spear. “Let’s move it out!”

The knights began their march anew, the crowd following behind. Marcy raced through them, the crowd parting for her like Moses at the Red Sea. As she passed the fwagon, she called out to the Plantars: “Get to safety! I’m gonna have Anne back before you know it!”

The three frogs nodded, leaving Marcy with looks of hope as Hop Pop snapped the reins, urging Bessie the snail into motion. Within seconds Marcy was through the crowd and leaving them behind as she barreled towards Thistle Plaza. Her heart hammered in her chest and her muscles screamed as she ran faster than she ever had in her life.

_New objective save Anne save Anne save Anne oh god Anne please be okay please -_

Marcy rounded the corner into Thistle Plaza. She froze, eyes widening.

Anne Boonchuy, one of Marcy’s best friends for years, let out a furious battle cry as she charged through the circular plaza surrounded by burning buildings, cleaving through the attacking barbari-ants. Her sword flew through the air with surgical precision, slicing through limbs, jaws, heads, entire bodies. Ichor sprayed through the air as barbari-ants were left in writhing pieces on the street, their pained shrieks mixing with the crackling flames.

Marcy just stood there, awestruck. Anne had told her all about the sword training she had received, about her battle with Sasha and fights against all kinds of creatures and oddities. But to actually see her in action, moving in a whirling dervish of raw brutality…

It was breathtaking.

And just like that, it was over. With a final swing of Anne’s sword, the last barbari-ant fell to the ground in two pieces. Anne stood there in the center of the carnage, panting heavily, gripping her sword so hard that her knuckles turned white.

Shaking herself free of her reverence, Marcy waved and called out: “Anne!”

Anne whirled around. In an instant her rage was gone, replaced by hope and joy. “Marcy! You’re here!”

“Of course I’m here, Anna-Banana!” Marcy couldn’t contain her elated laughter at seeing her friend unharmed. “Come on, we need to get out of here! Hop Pop and the others are just ahead, we can still catch ‘em. Let’s go!”

“You ain’t gotta tell me twice!” Anne was laughing, smiling that radiant smile as she started running towards Marcy. “Man am I glad to see-”

Behind Anne, the ground exploded. Stone flew through the air as a barbari-ant burst forth from below, drool dripping from its jaws and black eyes shimmering in the firelight.

Time seemed to slow to a crawl as Marcy saw everything.

The barbari-ant’s mandibles closed around Anne’s midsection.

Anne’s smile fell as she was lifted from the ground.

Her eyes went wide. Her face paled.

Her lips formed a silent “no.”

Marcy’s arm raised on instinct.

Her crossbow fired. The bolt flew through the air. Fast.

Not fast enough.

The ant’s mandibles snapped shut.

Blood sprayed.

Anne screamed. Hoarse. Ragged. Agonized.

The bolt slammed into the ant’s eye. The impact sent the creature tumbling backwards, dead in an instant.

Anne tumbled from its jaws, landing in a heap.

Her sword clattered against the ground, the clang of metal on stone echoing like a funeral toll.

_“Nooooo!”_

The scream tore its way from Marcy’s throat as she ran towards her fallen friend. She dropped to her knees beside Anne and turned her over onto her back. Her hands came away dripping with crimson.

_(Blood blood oh God so much blood)_

“No no no no no no,” Marcy said frantically. She gave Anne a firm pat on the cheek. “Anne? Anne?!”

No response. Anne’s eyes were shut, her mouth hanging open slightly.

“Anne, stay with me!” Marcy cast off her cloak, pressing it against the ragged wounds in Anne’s sides. Blood seeped through the fabric almost instantly. “S-stay with me Anne! It’s okay, you’re gonna be okay!”

She felt her knees grow wet as the puddle of blood grew beneath them. _“Medic!_ Man down, man down! I need a medic now!”

No reply but the crackling flames.

“Dionaea!” Marcy cast a glance over her shoulder, her black hair whipping as she looked around. “Hop Pop! Anyone?!”

Only a deserted street greeted her.

“Oh please God no,” Marcy turned back to Anne, her vision blurring as her eyes welled with tears. “A-Anne? Anne, can you hear me?!”

Anne didn't say anything. She lay still on the cold Newtopian street.

“No,” Marcy’s voice was a desperate whisper.

Marcy hooked one arm under Anne’s back to lift her, cradling her head and neck with the other. Anne’s head lolled to one side. A thin trickle of blood ran down from the side of her mouth. Her arms hung limply. 

_“No…!”_

Tears ran down Marcy’s face, falling to mix with the blood below.

“I-I-I just got you back,” Marcy said helplessly. She shut her eyes tight, tears stinging. “I just got you back after all this time! Anne, you can’t leave me now, not after I just got you back, please! Please…”

Marcy knelt among the burning remains of Newtopia, cradling the body of her best friend as she wept, her body wracked with heaving sobs.

_“Marcy…”_

Marcy's heart skipped a beat. She opened her eyes just in time to see Anne's head turn slightly towards her.

"Anne?!" Marcy gasped, hope welling up in her chest.

Anne shifted in her grasp, her eyelids slowly lifting. "M… Marcy…"

"Oh God, you're alive!" Marcy barked a laugh of desperate relief. "Just stay calm Anne, I'm gonna get you out of here! Everything will be-"

Anne opened her eyes. 

Marcy’s words caught in her throat. Her best friend looked up at her with a glassy, cloudy gaze.

"Marcy," Anne whispered hoarsely, "why did you kill me?"

All Marcy could do was stammer out a confused and hurt; "Wha- wha, I… I didn’t… That barbari-ant…"

Anne looked her right in the eyes, unblinking. "Why did you bring me here?"

"I-I didn't! You came here with the Plantars! You-"

Clarity slammed into Marcy like a hammer to the gut.

The music box in the pawn shop.

The text to Sasha.

Waiting outside while Anne slipped it into her bag...

"No," Marcy shook her head, shutting her eyes against the memories. "No, I didn't! I mean I did but I… I never thought this would happen…!"

Anne's hand came up, wrapping around Marcy's neck. Her fingers were ice cold. Marcy gave a terrified gasp as her eyes shot open.

"Isn't this what you wanted?" Anne asked with a voice like grinding gravel. She grinned, showing off a mouthful of teeth streaked with blood. "A grand adventure, just like one of your games?"

"N… no…" Marcy gasped as Anne's grip tightened around her throat. Tears of fear and pain welled up in her eyes. "Anne I-"

"Not exactly what I had in mind for my 13th birthday," Anne continued. "All I wanted was to celebrate at my family's restaurant, maybe have a sleepover later, spend some time with my two best friends in the world."

Anne yanked Marcy down close, silver-dollar eyes fixed in a furious glare, lips pulled back in a grotesque parody of a smile. "Happy birthday to me, huh?"

Marcy couldn't move. Her body was frozen as the fingers around her neck squeezed tighter. Her vision blurred, her lungs burned, her heartbeat thundered in her ears.

"A… Anne… p-please…"

"Marcy…"

"... Didn't… mean…" 

"Marcy…"

"I'm… s-so… rry…"

_"Marcy!"_

Marcy shot awake with a startled gasp. She sat up, taking in desperate gulps of precious oxygen. She wasn't in Thistle Plaza, and Newtopia wasn't being overrun by monstrous ants. She was in her bedroom at the Newtopian Knight Barracks, moonlight streaming in through the window. Her heart slammed against her ribcage, and a thin sheen of sweat had her pajamas clinging to her body.

_It was… just a dream?_

“Marcy?”

A hand fell on her shoulder, and Marcy about jumped out of her skin with a scream.

“Whoa, easy there!” Said the figure sitting beside Marcy. A tap of the glow-bulb mushroom on the nightstand illuminated the room. “It’s just me!”

Marcy blinked rapidly at the sudden bright light. Her vision cleared in seconds, revealing a familiar figure on the bed next to her. “... Anne?”

Anne Boonchoy - very much alive and not a vengeful revenant, Marcy’s still-half-asleep brain noted - chuckled awkwardly. “Yeah, who else would it be?” She hooked a thumb over her shoulder, towards the bed that Marcy had the squires set up just hours earlier. “You insisted I sleep over, remember?”

Marcy just stared, her breathing still ragged.

“Mar-mar, you okay?” Anne asked, concerned. “You kept turning and mumbling in your sleep and I - _whoa okay then!”_

Anne yelped as Marcy practically dove at her, wrapping her arms tight around Anne’s torso and burying her face against her shoulder. Anne felt her shirt grow damp as Marcy sobbed against her, and quickly returned the hug.

“Hey it’s okay,” Anne whispered gently. “It’s alright Marcy, I’m right here. Let me guess: nightmare?”

Still keeping her face pressed against Anne’s shirt, Marcy let out a muffled _“Uh-huh.”_

“Do you… need to talk about it?”

_“... uh-uh.”_

“Okay. Well I’m here for you no matter what.”

The two of them sat in silence, Marcy crying against Anne as Anne rubbed her back.

“Anne…” Marcy finally said after a long while. She pulled back, looking to her friend with moist, red eyes. “I’m so sorry.”

Anne scoffed. “Girl, don’t worry about it! It was just a bad dream; we all get ‘em. I was having trouble falling asleep any-”

“I’m not talking about the dream,” Marcy interrupted. She waved her arm in a sweeping motion. “I’m talking about all of this! This crazy death-world, all the danger we’ve faced… it’s all my fault we’re stuck here.” She looked down in shame. “If I hadn’t found that stupid music box in the first place, none of this would have happened.”

“Hey hey!” Anne said firmly. She put her hands on Marcy’s shoulders. “I don’t wanna hear any of that junk. Last I checked, _I_ was the one who swiped the music box.”

“Yeah well… I could have talked you out of it.”

“Yeah, and I could have stood up to Sasha when she pressured me into ditching school and my parents’ party.” Anne sighed, looking down herself. “Something I should’ve done a long time ago.”

Anne shook her head. “Look, we all made mistakes that night. But we’re not solving anything by beating ourselves up over it. We can’t change the past. All we can do is try to be better for the future.”

Marcy looked up, uncertain. Anne gave her a confident smile. “Like you said, we’ll find Sasha. We’ll fix things between us, and we’ll all find a way home together. Okay?”

Marcy sniffled, and gave a small smile. She wiped her tears away with her shirt sleeve. “Okay.”

“Good. Now since we’re both wide awake, let me ask you: got anything planned for tomorrow?”

Marcy thought for a second, then shook her head. “No, tomorrow is my day off.”

“Perfect!” Anne fished her phone from the pocket of her pajama pants, waving it in a tantalizing manner. “Wanna binge-watch the new season of Suspicion Island?”

“For real?!” Marcy’s eyes lit up. “Anne you scoundrel, why didn’t you tell me you downloaded it before we got zapped her?”

“It was auto-downloaded, I didn’t realize until I had been here for a few days. Didn’t it do that for you too?”

“No! You _know_ my phone is too full of games.”

Anne chuckled and rolled her eyes. “Right of course. So you obviously don’t know that in episode three Justin and Minerva-”

Marcy let out a half-scream, half-laugh as she chucked one of her pillows at Anne, who laughed while ducking out of the way. “No spoilers!”

“Then I guess you’ll just have to find out for yourself! Scoot over.”

Anne swung her feet up onto the bed, leaning back and setting her phone in her lap. Marcy curled up beside her, and the two friends settled in to watch some trashy TV.

**Author's Note:**

> Anne may have been the one to actually steal the Calamity Box, but all three girls had a role in what happened with them being transported to another world. Sasha is... well she seems to be having issues of her own, so I wanted to explore Marcy's potential guilt with the whole situation.
> 
> I hope you all enjoyed reading this story as much as I did writing it.


End file.
